Top Management - Chapter 84

Chapter 84

Chapter 84: When You’re Missing Pieces of the Puzzle (1)

TL: emptycube / ED: Isleidir

“Are they all here to see the concert?”

The girls looked out the window with open mouths .

Everyone’s eyes were so wide that it seemed like they would pop out if they were hit on the back of the head . My eyes were no different since I was looking out the passenger seat window in surprise .

The last recording for Next K-Star was a concert . It was a concert where the eight teams would show the performances they had showed off in the missions .

Since it was a hot topic, I expected there to be a lot of people . However, I was speechless when I saw the number of people gathered at the entrance of the concert hall . Although there were audiences at music broadcasts and regional events, the scale was incomparable to this .

“Ho-how many people are coming today?”

“Since they said the tickets sold out, there should be more than five thousand . ”

The traitor replied from the driver’s seat .

“Five thousand…!”

Im Seoyoung displayed unusual behavior as she bit her nails . Since it seemed like she would even eat her fingers at this rate, I moved my arm behind me .

“Here, since there aren’t any dolls, grab onto this . ”

“You will be blessed!”

Im Seoyoung grabbed my arm .

Humans only had two hands, but why did it seem like the number of hands multiplied? Thinking something was strange, I turned around and saw that Lee Songha was holding my hand as well . She was rarely nervous during drama shoots, yet it seemed she still found performances to be difficult . Her face was stiff .

Well, it made sense since it hadn’t been long since she heard that she alone was lowering the team’s average .

“Uh, that person… . ”

Suddenly, Lee Taehee narrowed her eyes as she saw the crowd outside the car window .

“Why? Did you find someone you know?”

“I think I saw him back when we held a guerilla concert in Hongdae . ”

Kim Hyunjo was astonished at her reply .

“You still remember someone you saw then?”

“He stood out because of his large figure and he was the first person to give us a present . ”

“Ah! The butter cookies?!”

Im Seoyoung stuck against the window . The butter cookies they received back then were still ‘preserved’ in the living room . LJ threw them out multiple times because they were moldy, but Im Seoyoung brought them back every time . They had a long life .

“Then did he come to see us? He probably came to see us, right?”

“Don’t know . He might have changed the team he supports during this time . ”

LJ said something that lacked any dreams or hopes . However, Im Seoyoung’s eyes were already shining . Since she was someone who was concerned ‘fans’ to an unusual degree, it seemed her confidence and motivation were surging at the thought that a fan had come .

It wasn’t only Im Seoyoung, the other girls were the same .

The atmosphere in the van gradually heated up .

*

Since Next K-Star was a competition program, there were many in the audience who came to support a specific team . Also, there was bound to be a war of nerves when fans supporting different teams gathered in one place .

“Is Lee Taehee really that good at singing? I don’t know about that . ”

“I’m not even sure if LJ is good at rapping or not . ”

“There are probably a lot of people who voted for Neptune because of Lee Songha’s looks? But is she really that pretty? I don’t know if she’s that pretty . ”

“Hey, to be honest, she really is that pretty . If you don’t know this, then memorize it . ”

A few who came to support Sugar Cats whispered amongst each other .

Because there was a past between Sugar Cats and Im Seoyoung, there was a mood of being wary of Neptune amongst their fans from the start .

It was fine in the beginning since Sugar Cats was ranked high enough to compete against the boy groups while Neptune was at the bottom . However, as episodes aired, Neptune had long since passed them after being neck and neck for a while .

Because of this, there was an especially large number of haters amongst the Sugar Cats fans .

Although a few of the audience members who came to support Neptune revealed displeased expressions, the Sugar Cats fans continued to whisper .

From behind them, a large hand that was the size of a saucepan tapped their shoulders .

“Hey, you people who know nothing, please be quiet . ”

“What? Can’t we even spea…!”

They suddenly halted while turning around out of irritation .

His shoulders were broad and his figure was well-built like an athlete . The Sugar Cats fans crouched quietly . If they got into an argument with the man behind them, they thought they might spectate the afterlife instead of the concert .

Just then, a VJ approached them carrying a 6mm camera .

He shoved his camera towards the man behind them .

“I would like to ask for an interview . Who did you come to support?”

“I came to support Neptune . ”

The Sugar Cats fans in front of him crouched down even lower at his words . While they were whispering to each other if they should give their seats up and look for another place to sit-

The woman accompanying the man smiled cunningly .

“Hey, why are so serious all the way here? ‘I am Neptune’s fan! I danced with my hands in the air after successfully getting a ticket!’ You have to be like that so that you can get on the broadcast and show your face to Neptune!”

“Shut it . ”

The man glared at her, but the woman didn’t pay him any heed and said to the VJ,

“We were there during the guerilla concert too . At first, he snorted, saying that idol performances were lame . ”

“Ah, really?”

“When I told that he might end up becoming a fan of one of them and line up for their autograph a month later, he told me to stop with the nonsense . Yet he’s like this now because he became a fan of Neptune . ”

*

A chroma-key fabric hung like a curtain on one wall and four chairs crowded below it .

The Neptune members sat on the chairs and prepared for the preliminary interview .

“This is the last interview . ”

Producer Go Joontae said while waving a densely filled questionnaire .

Maybe it was because this was the last, but he looked less malicious today . His eyes, which had been filled with the obsession of raising the ratings, and his tongue, which tried its best to make them say more provocative remarks, were calm .

“At the first recording, five out of the seven teams picked Neptune as last place . However, today, which is the final day, you have reached third place in the overall ranking . As many complications as there were, do you reminisce about the past?”

Right, Im Seoyoung was frozen stiff when she first heard those words .

However, like Producer Go Joontae said, Neptune was third .

Punchline was first, and considering that the second place was also a boy group, Neptune was first out of the girl groups . Even excluding the firepower for their fans, there were many who thought that their rank would go up .

“Honestly, there are times when I’m surprised when I wake up . Thinking it was a dream . ”

Im Seoyoung pressed her chest as she replied,

“Not so long ago, I was so worried that the team would be disbanded that I felt I was standing on the edge of a cliff, but my world has changed in only four months . I would be surprised, thinking it was a dream, then, when I realized it wasn’t, I would become so happy . ”

Her happiness was displayed through her expression and voice .

Questions continued for a long while . Only after twice the time of other teams’ interviews had passed did the preliminary interview end . When I looked at the time, it was almost time for the performance . I was about to leave right away when Producer Go Joontae held me back .

“Wait, I would like to interview Mr . Sunwoo a little . ”

“Me?”

“If you think about it, Mr . Sunwoo is the one that brought us together . If Mr . Sunwoo didn’t approach me four months ago, would today even have happened?”

Producer Go Joontae said with a bitter expression,

“Let’s do an interview . I’m still being scolded from my superiors because the attempt to cast Mr . Seo Jijoon fell through . ”

That was good to hear .

Since Kim Hyunjo left me behind after telling me to do the interview, I did an interview that wasn’t scheduled . Although I didn’t know if my interview would affect the ratings at all, it seemed Producer Go Joontae was satisfied nevertheless .

After finishing everything, I awkwardly shook Producer Go Joontae’s hand, while thinking,

‘Let’s not meet in the future . ’

20 minutes before standby .

A heavy tension hung in the waiting room . It felt like there wasn’t enough oxygen .

Sugar Cats’ performance was going on outside . I could hear the screams of thousands of people all the way here .

Neptune’s first performance was right after them . The girls each had their own way of brushing off the tension . Im Seoyoung was breathing deeply while hugging a large bag, and Lee Taehee and LJ were concentrating with earphones in their ears .

Also, Lee Songha sat quietly next to me .

While even the sounds of breathing were silent, Lee Songha’s phone vibrated .

When I glanced at the screen, the phone number was saved as ‘Home’ . Grabbing her phone, Lee Songha hung up without hesitation . Then she completely turned off her phone and put it in her bag .

“You can take it . You have time for a brief call . ”

At my words, Lee Songha shook her head .

“I don’t need to take it . ”

“Your heart might relax after talking with your parents . ”

“It’s okay . ”

After thinking for a moment, Lee Songha soon mumbled,

“Also, I relax best when I with oppa . ”

10 minutes before standby .

We went out of the waiting room and moved towards the stage .

Maybe it was because today was the last day or because everyone was nervous being in front of thousands of spectators, but other group members gave us words of encouragement .

We arrived backstage right after Sugar Cats’ performance ended . While the special MC and the judges had a light conversation while looking at footage, Sugar Cats came down from the stage while celebrating amongst themselves .

Then, as soon as they saw us, their complexions changed .

They had said stuff about how Lee Songha was now a one-man team and that it was troublesome that the member who was acting was the focus of a girl group, constantly rubbing us the wrong way, but it seemed they couldn’t control their expressions as they looked like they had swallowed a bug .

It was probably because Neptune, especially Im Seoyoung, came under the spotlight after Star Manager . I bet they were frustrated since they had put in a lot of energy in disregarding and being wary of Im Seoyoung for no reason .

The Sugar Cats’ leader, Han Saetbyeol, stopped beside Im Seoyoung .

“Neptune’s new song is coming out in spring, right? The one by Simon Lee?”

“We’re going to have double title tracks . The other one’s made by Taehee unni . ”

Im Seoyoung said with a smile .

As she passed by, Han Saetbyeol said,

“We’re making our comeback then too . I guess we’ll see each other in music broadcasts . ”

“Hello, we are Neptune!”

The girls greeted the audience when they went on stage .

Although this was a greeting they had said constantly to spread their name, there probably wasn’t anyone in the audience who didn’t know this name .

Right, it did feel reminiscent .

Soon, the instrumentals of the mission song the girls had practiced overnight began to play .

I was inwardly worried since it was their first time performing in front of such a large audience, but it was for naught . I couldn’t find a trace of nervousness from the girls on stage . They were like fish in water .

I gazed at the stage without looking away for a moment .

A smile unconsciously hung on my lips at some point .

In celebration of the last recording, we had a simple ending party .

Even though it ended after we each had a piece of cake because it was so late, it was already late into the early morning by the time I arrived home .

Depending on the streetlights, I entered the parking lot .

As if someone had left out a can of tuna, a black alley cat had its face on the ground in the corner of the parking lot . When I parked my car close to it, it raised its tail up and raised its guard against me .

I stretched after turning off the ignition . Just as I was thinking that I should forget about taking a shower and just sleep, suddenly, my vision was filled with static .

If there wasn’t any static, I would have wondered why my hand was moving on its own since I was sitting in a parked car like before .

The familiar inside of a minivan, a familiar steering wheel, and a familiar air freshener .

It was night here too .

On top of the static, there were no streetlights . It was completely dark when looking out the window . Although I could vaguely make out a building, I couldn’t see it properly . What was certain was that I wasn’t familiar with this place .

“… Then hold an interview and explain . ”

I was on the phone with someone, but something was odd .

Interview? Explain?

It sounded like I was threatening someone . It was similar to the time I threatened Teacher Shim Kyungtaek last time . No, to be exact, it was similar to my voice when I played back the file I had recorded .

I could hear rough breathing from the other side .

Who was it?

“This isn’t a request . If one interview isn’t enough, then do two or three and correct this situation… Unless you want to roll in the mud together . ”

Although my words continued, it was far from being a hint . Instead, it made me more confused .

What about an interview and what did I mean by correcting the situation?

And what did I mean by rolling in the mud together?

My brain was complicated . The breathing on the other side only became rougher, but there wasn’t a reply yet . If I could move my head with my will, I would have immediately turned around and checked the phone number…

The growls of a cat pierced my ears .

Surprised, I turned my head . I saw the black cat, its fur was raised .

After seeing this, I realized that I had returned to the parking lot .

I swallowed my saliva and recalled the future I had seen . Although the alley cat kept making threatening sounds as it prowled around my car, I couldn’t move due to the surge of question in my head .

Just when did it occur?

At a sudden thought, I looked at the air freshener stuck in front of the passenger seat .

There was a little over half remaining . There wasn’t a big difference between the one in the future . Although I could have put on the exact one after using this one up, if that wasn’t the case, then the future could be earlier than I expected .

Who was the person I was on the phone with in the future?

Why was I threatening that person?

… Just what would happen now?